Someone you know and trust wants you to go into business together. You sign a contract and then later discover your friend was dishonest. You signed a bad contract. What can you do?
If you are trying to get out of a bad contract, you need to know if a court of law can enforce it. The contract might not be binding if you or the other person copied it from a generic template.
What is a valid contract?
A valid contract has specific terms about the parties involved and the payment terms. There must also be a termination clause. If your contract has these elements, it may be binding, but you may have an out if you can prove fraud.
How can you prove there was fraudulent behavior?
To prove fraudulent behavior, you will need to prove that one of these things happened:
- Someone forged your signature.
- The other party misled you into signing the contract.
- Someone used deceptive means to steal from you.
Theft by deception is a criminal offense in Texas. People are indicted for entering into an agreement on misleading terms. If you feel the other party behaved fraudulently, you can get out of the contract, but you may have to file a lawsuit. Plus, you will have to ask the court to declare the contract void. If you lost money, you may have to file an additional suit asking for damages.
Most contracts are binding. Still, you can get out of an unfair contract if you can prove the other party used deception to take advantage of you.
